1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pre-testing method and apparatus for a weathering test of a sample of plastic, fiber, coating material, or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, in measurement of weather-ability of plastic material or the like in Japan and elsewhere, weathering machines according to Japanese Industrial Standard B7751 to 7754 are generally used.
In these testing machines, ordinarily, a light source such as a carbon arc lamp, xenon arc lamp or the like is used and the light emitted from this light source is irradiated onto a sample, thereby performing the accelerated weathering test.
However, in an apparatus using such a light source which is employed in those weathering machines, an ultraviolet irradiation intensity is generally about 6 mW per 1 cm.sup.2 of the surface to be irradiated, so that it takes approximately hundreds of hours or longer to measure and discriminate the ultraviolet deterioration characteristic that equivalently corresponds to a one-year irradiation by solar light.
Also, conventionally, a method whereby samples for every lot are subjected to one hundred percent (100%) test is generally carried out, so that it takes a long time for measurement and discrimination of the result, and this method is extremely inefficient.